(0) Cart
  • No products in the cart.

LATEST MODS

BlogHome »

FuriousFPV Piko BLX Flight Controller

Check out this flight controller and PDB combo: FuriousFPV Piko BLX. Not only does the FC+PDB integration makes sense. but it’s a F3 with SPI gyro in a 20×20 mounting format. Made for micro multirotor frames. And supports quad or hex configuration.

Since FuriousFPV came on the scene, I swear it feels like there’s finally a company that have looked into my lab or can read my mind. ;) Thier recently released electronics, are looking really sweet.
FuriousFPV_Piko_BLX_flight_controller_daryoon

How it compares to the small AfroMini or CC3D Atom board I have used on my other builds. Yet it is F3 with SPI gyro, BetaFlight and RaceFlight ready…with built in PDB and transponder support. As well as LC Filter.
FuriousFPV_piko_BLX_FC_KISS_AfroMini_Naze_size_comparision

More and more frames are being designed around the 20mm mounting holes. Here is the rest of the dimensions in case you guys are wondering.IMG_9383-195 IMG_9466-199 IMG_9466-198

For those frames with 30.5mm flight controller mounting holes, you can print an adapter such as this. (Thanks to slovenian6474 for sharing)piko_20_30_5_adapter

I printed an alternate version in TPU and pulled the nubs through. So I don’t need to use screws at the 20mm holes.piko_20_30_5_adapter_SCX200

My recently completed QuattroVolante Q-Carbon is the first quad I built with the Piko BLX FC. It made the wire runs so neat. And the PDB integration help to keep the weight down and build process easy. I soldered the 5v tolerant 200mw VTX directly to the 5v rails on the Piko FC and it was noise free. Perfectly clear video feed.
q-carbon_piko_blx_vgood_10a_esc

I am looking forward to the Kombini, their bigger, 30.5mm version with built in current sensor and PDB that can handle higher current. Their pipeline is also full with many upcoming releases that FPVer will love. However, for the smaller frames that need high amps… there is a seperate PDB that can stack with the Piko BLX.

 

2 Comments on FuriousFPV Piko BLX Flight Controller

vGood FireFly 32bit ESC

Nowadays, there are a couple of ESC firmware that multirotor guys are flying with. It’s generally either KISS or BLHeli enabled ESC. So it’s nice to see another company producing ESC with the ease, simplicity of KISS with great performance and smoothness…while being very receptive to feedback from the community. You can find their test thread here on RCGroups…and their representative does a great job of relaying wants/bugs/issues back to the engineers.

IMG_8910

What I like about the vGood FireFly is that it’s 32bit and drives the motor very smoothly. It’s size is also very small for the number of amps it can handle. On my recent Q-Carbon build, I went with the 10a ESC because they are slightly smaller than the other ESC I had on hand. Including a 12a KISS one. And in these micro builds, every millimeter counts IMHO.vGood_FireFly_10a_front_back LittleBee_KISS_vGood_FireFly

Great weight for the smaller builds where every gram matters.
vGood_FireFly_10a_weight

A mock up of how it looks on the arms. It was much easier to solder the motor wires with the extra room versus say the LittleBee 20a which sits right next to where the motor wires exit.
q-carbon_esc_comparision

The vGood FireFly 10a and the FuriousFPV Piko BLX FC makes a perfect combo for the 130mm Q-Carbon frame.
quattrovolante_q-carbon_red_side

The list of things I like about the vGood 32bit ESC:

  • The fast 48mHz 32bit processor with dedicated gate drivers AND hardware PWM, makes for very smooth running ESC. Similar to my KISS ESC.
  • It’s ability to adapt timing keeps desync issues at bay, including high KV motors. No guessing on what timing to set, helping keep KISS-like simplicity.
  • Active braking is enabled by default. And it has anti-stall protection to prevent the motor from burning up the ESC should it detect that the props are blocked from spinning.
  • I has an easy to use motor reversing feature. If you want your motor to spin the opposite way, you plug in your battery. And before you arm…you simply rotate that motor/prop in the direction you want it to operate. The ESC will beep signifying that it has updated it’s settings. No need to cross wires or plug in a USB flashing stick to do this simple thing.
  • Latest protocol ready and aware. OneShot and MultiShot auto detection.
  • Lastly, awesome price to performance ratio. The price is on the low end of the spectrum…yet top end performance. Nice.

 

Where to buy

From vGood directly
or as rebrands from

USA:
GetFPV (Silk 20a and 30a)

China:
HobbyKing (MultiStar 32bit ESC)

 

Categories: Uncategorized
1 Comment on vGood FireFly 32bit ESC

QuattroVolante Q-Carbon 130mm build

I, like many friend in this hobby, started out flying a little brushed quad that we received as a gift. That was the gateway…and from there, we kept building bigger and more powerful. Faster. Eventually, we find that we can not fly our fast FPV quad everywhere… so we look for something smaller that can retain that feeling of speed and excitement of flying from the pilot’s seat that FPV’er crave.

Many of us look for and build smaller quad that looks more like shrunken version of our 250class racer. There are many of them out there to choose from. So it’s refreshing to see a small 130mm brushless quad that dares to be different. The QuattroVolante Q-Carbon130 is one such quad.

Here it is, built with vGood FireFly 32bit 10a ESC and 1104 4000kv motors. Spinning RotorX 3020 props.

quattrovolante_q-carbon_red_front_camera

Here it is with the top off…

quattrovolante_q-carbon_top_down_view_top_off

Ready to fly weight without the lipo…
quattrovolante_q-carbon_weight

The FuriousFPV Piko BLX flight controller has a PDB integrated, as well as a host of other features. It makes the build process go so easily and keep everything tidy. Highly recommended.
quattrovolante_q-carbon_piko_blx_inside

q-carbon_piko_blx_vgood_10a_esc quattrovolante_q-carbon_red_side

The RCTimer 200mw Raceband ready VTX is super small and lightweight. It fits perfectly back here. I simply solder directly to the Piko FC’s 5v rails and I get no motor noise. Super clean video. You can see how I removed the pigtail and solder on a clover leaf antenna directly. Right above that signal/ground solder joint, I solder to the big ground point to keep any stress off the smaller signal/ground pad. Then I ziptie the antenna to the frame to give more strain relief. The push button on this VTX makes channel switching very easy.
q-carbon_rctimer_200mw_vtx

The Q-carbon flies amazing. I flash the Piko FC with Raceband and using Multishot protocol for the ESC. I am finding myself reaching for this little quad more and more…and flying in places that I felt was too small for the bigger quad. The low noise and non threatening sound puts everyone at else.

quattrovolante_q-carbon_red_tpu

Categories: Uncategorized
Leave a comment →